3
comments:

With separate steps you have the potential to reuse tests in a more modular fashion. ie.:

Test 8: Do Test 1 then Test 4.

Test 9: Do Test 3, Test 5, then Test 2.

Personally I would write the tests as a single large tests until I have the need to break it up. ie. XP/Agile Testing -- get it working first and refactor later. Then if I start writing another test where I'd be doing the same thing as a previous test then I would go back and break the first test into easily callable reusable tests.

Hotpants, your suggestion makes sense. In your Test 9 example, does the entire Test 9 have one new verification at the end or do you use the original verifications that came from Test 3, Test 5, and Test 2?

Who am I?

My typical day: get up, maybe hit the gym, drop my kids off at daycare, listen to a podcast or public radio, do not drink coffee (I kicked it), test software or help others test it, break for lunch and a Euro-board game, try to improve the way we test, walk the dog and kids, enjoy a meal with Melissa, an IPA, and a movie/TV show, look forward to a weekend of hanging out with my daughter Josie, son Haakon, and perhaps a woodworking or woodturning project.